Rediscovering Ohana
by webcomix
Summary: America observes a scene that reminds him of old memories and forgotten feelings. For TheWonderBunny's Disney Mania Challenge. One-shot.


**A/N: Another one-shot for TheWonderBunny's Disney Mania Challenge! Don't know if you noticed, but I'm rather fond of Disney. Tonight I had the sudden urge to listen to 'Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride,' and then this fic was born.**

**Warning: Kinda long, but I wanted to write about this entire part of the movie.**

**Axis Powers Hetalia is owned by Hidekaz Himuraya.  
Lilo & Stitch is owned by Chris Sanders and Walt Disney Pictures.**

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America sat astride on his surfboard, legs dangling in the water. He sighed contentedly and silently congratulated himself. Things had been getting hectic stateside, so he'd decided he was due for a vacation. A secret vacation. Hopefully, his boss wasn't freaking out over his disappearance right now. But hey, after the pain of last year, he really needed time to relax and get over the scars.

So what better place to do so than in Hawaii? America gazed proudly at the gorgeous sunset in front of him. Even though he had California, there was just something else about real tropical beaches. He'd been on this one for hours - from midday until now. The only people left were himself, two teenagers, a little girl and a dog.

Surfing with them had been fun. Well, he hadn't really gone surfing with them, since he didn't want to intrude on their family outing. But he'd loved watching them. Even though Hawaii was a new acquisition (hey, it had barely been 60 years since then!), he felt that these kids were totally American. That sense of fun, carefree independence, companionship, bravery...he loved it all.

Right now, they were building sandcastles. The little girl giggled wildly, wiggling her toes as the older girl and boy cheerfully covered her with sand. Then they began building a sandcastle on top of her. America grinned. It was really cute.

Then he saw the dog. It was some kinda weird mutt, with funny blue fur and huge black eyes. It was sitting a distance away. America would've sworn that it was watching the others intently, almost confused. He hid a smile as the dog buried himself in the sand, trying to imitate the humans.

America stretched, wondering if he had enough time to take on a few more waves before calling it a night. The answer of course, was yes. Surely nothing would be more cool than surfing in the sunset! He began paddling towards the open sea.

After a while, he noticed the others riding the waves along with him. Awesome minds think alike, he thought smugly. Even the dog was surfing!

Suddenly, what seemed to be a pair of huge black hands reached out of the humongous wall of water and snatched the dog into its depths. The girls on the surfboard toppled over into the sea. So did America, taken completely by surprise. When his head broke through the surface, gasping for breath, he heard the little girl scream.

"Where's Stit-AHHHHH!"

The dog had burst out of the water, spluttering and barking, clawing at her. The other girl panicked, pushing the dog away.

"Get off of her!"

The dog plummeted, and though the older girl swam towards her in vain, the child disappeared below the water too. America watched, frozen in horror, then kicked into hero mode, diving down to help.

Underwater, he couldn't help but pause and stare in amazement. The weird blue dog was grappling with a much bigger creature. Some sort of big gorilla, maybe...but less hairy. And with FOUR EYES. The little girl was still connected to the dog, who was holding onto her left leg for dear life. But unlike him, her whole body was listless, long black hair floating around her face creepily.

America starting swimming towards her, but the teenagers beat him to it. They grabbed the little girl and swam back to the surface, ignoring the dog. It continued fighting tooth and nail against the huge...thing, and then some sort of squid or something - wearing diving gear of all things - joined into the fray. But that didn't change much. Man, that thing fought worse than Italy.

The dog took one ferocious bite out of the squid's oxygen tank, and the two things shot away like a jet. The dog blacked out, falling downwards. America realized that he was also running out of air, but couldn't just leave the creature there. Then, the teenager boy reappeared, grabbing the dog and pulling him back up. America returned to the surface too.

It was all too much for him. He quietly went back to the beach, still taking care to maintain a good distance between himself and the small family. The boy staggered back towards the girls, clutching the dog.

"He's unconscious, but I think he's alive!"

That's when America saw a powerfully-built man in a suit, watching disapprovingly. He looked like a government official. Uh-oh. Had they found out where he'd snuck off to? America beat a hasty retreat behind a cluster of trees. But he was still worried about the dog, so he peeked out at them from his hiding place.

The older girl ran up to the man, looking worried.

"This isn't what it looks like," She pleaded. "We were...it's just that..." Her voice trailed off and she glanced back at the others, shame spreading over her face.

The man sighed and took off his sunglasses. "I know you're trying, Nani. But you need to think what's best for her, even if it means removing you from the picture. I'll be back tomorrow for Lilo. I'm sorry." He turned and left Nani standing dejectedly on the beach.

America couldn't take this sad sight anymore. He angrily stomped away from the heartbreaking scene, his mood completely destroyed. He spent his evening reliving the entire thing in his mind. It wasn't even their fault! It was those weird...monster things. They'd picked on the dog, who had just turned to his owners for help, who were just a bunch of kids! It wasn't fair to split a family up like that, he thought, scowling. He punched a palm tree for emphasis.

"Ow!"

Okay, fine. Hitting a plant wasn't going to help. In fact, now his pinky hurt. America continued wandering around Kauai. Quietly nearing a house, a voice drifted out an open window. He halted, blinking with surprise. He recognized it as the little girl from the beach, Lilo.

"Our family's little now...and we don't have many toys. But if you want, you can be part of it. You could be our baby, and we'd raise you to be good."

There was a pause. America was still, listening hard.

"Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind. But if you wanna leave...you can."

Though he couldn't see beyond it, America saw the funny blue dog crawling out of the window, dragging a book along. It padded away from the house, close to where America stood. Curiosity piqued, the nation followed it. The creature climbed up a small hill into the tropical forest, finally coming to rest in a clearing. America stayed close, hiding from view the whole while.

The dog opened the book, staring at the pages. After a few seconds, he looked up at the sky, forlorn.

"I'm...I'm lost."

America almost fell over in shock. Holy moly, a talking dog! Even though that was totally crazy, what really got him was the tone of voice. The dog sat back, ears flattened in despair. He cried out at the night again.

"Lost!"

For the second time that day, America felt as if his heart was going to explode from the indignity of it all. He slipped away. Back in his hotel room, he lay on his bed, trying to justify how he felt so connected to this group of kids. It made no sense.

Wait. He sat up. He knew why it had seemed all too familiar. America didn't know his own parents, either. One day he just...was. He'd wandered the continent, exploring the mountains, prairies and forests, but nobody ever taught him anything or showed him around. He'd always felt lost.

That is, until England came along. Now that was a day he definitely remembered. England had come with France and Finland. France tried to entice him with food, but England didn't have anything. He came from some gloomy island in Europe, while France was from a sunny, fertile country. Still, England had shared almost everything with him. America had been his treasured little brother, and he raised him.

And then - America rolled over in bed and covered his head with the pillow - HE'D decided to leave. Back to being alone. Independence was awesome, but now...now he realized he'd lost the closest thing to family.

America spent the night tossing and turning, unable to rest.

As soon as sunlight crept through the window, he bolted out of bed, making a beeline for the small clearing on the hill. Upon arriving, he saw the poor dog still there, slumped over on the open book. After a few minutes, it woke up, grunting softly. The leaves rustled faintly, across the way from where America hid. The dog automatically tensed up.

The huge monster from the day before burst from the foliage, a laser-gun-thingie in his hands pointing straight at the dog. It was all America could do to not yell in surprise. Oddly, the dog just stared morosely back, previous feistiness gone.

"Don't run. Don't make me shoot you. You were expensive. Yes, yes, that's it. Come quietly."

The blue creature timidly stepped back, glancing towards the direction of Lilo's house. "W...waiting."

"For what?" The big guy stepped on the book. America could see the pages now - it was a picture story of _The Ugly Duckling_, one of Denmark's tales. On one page, the titular duckling was crying. Then on the next one, it was happily reunited with its swan parents. The dog stared longingly at them.

"Family."

"Ahh..." The monster nodded affably, as if he was just explaining a math problem. "You don't have one. I made you."

America nearly fell over again. So it WASN'T a dog! There was something off about the blue fur, anyway.

"M-maybe I could -"

"You're built to destroy. You can never belong. Now come quietly, and we will take you apar...no, no, no, DON'T RUN!"

America cheered inwardly as the creature took off into the forest. The monster groaned and went after him. The nation went back down towards the town to grab a bite to eat. On the way, he passed a phone booth. He hesitated, then went inside.

When he picked up the receiver, America was about to call his boss and finally admit where he was, but then he suddenly thought of Canada. They were supposed to be brothers. Yet he never really spent any time with him. And last year, when he was going through that crisis, Canada had helped out big time. America had been a total mess, but Canada came in wordlessly and had worked hard at dispelling the chaos. So America punched in those numbers first.

"H-hello?"

"Canada?"

"America? Where are you?"

"Uh, Hawaii."

"Oh...that's nice."

An awkward silence.

"Hey, wanna join me?"

"What?"

"Come down here! The weather's great! Unlike that frozen tundra of a home you're stuck in."

"America, it's June. The sun makes it like 27 degrees out on a daily basis."

"See? You gotta get away from that icy weather! Stay here with me! C'mon, we don't hang out anymore!"

"27 degrees Celsius, not Fahrenheit!"

"Whatever. I'll be waiting for ya, bro."

Canada stared at his phone in bewilderment. America rarely referenced the fact that they were related. His mouth twisted into a uncertain frown. He wasn't sure if this was a good time for a vacation...but it was true. They really didn't spend time together anymore. Canada smiled and turned to pack.

Meanwhile, America was busy dialing another number. This time, he waited with trepidation, half-hoping nobody would pick up. However, the call was answered after exactly three rings.

"Kirkland residence."

"Hey, Mr. Residence. Can I talk to England?"

"Oh, it's you. Well, what do you want now?"

"Um...nothing."

Another awkward silence. America realized that he probably should have thought these calls out earlier. Oh well, too late now.

"This is ridiculous. If you don't have anything to say, stop wasting my time. I have better things to do than to talk about nothing."

"But it's important!"

"Then spit it out, for Pete's sake!"

"I..." America squeezed his eyes shut, regretting his decision to call. "...want to say thank you."

A confused pause from the other side. "Whatever for?"

"For, uh. Taking care...of me. You know. When I was little."

"Er...you're welcome?"

"For being my family."

This time, the deadly quiet was due to astonishment on both parts. America couldn't believe his own mouth.

_Click_. The line went dead.

America replaced the receiver on the hook and left the tiny booth. He stood next to it, unmoving. After a while, he smiled happily, feeling pleased with himself. Strolling down the street, he began to plan his breakfast and Canada's arrival, not noticing the muffled noises of yelling and furniture exploding in the distance.

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**A/N: 'The pain of last year' refers to 9/11, because **_**Lilo & Stitch **_**came out in 2002, and therefore I set this in that time frame.**

**I only referenced their 'human' names once. England answers his phone that way so in case it's some innocent civilian, they won't be confused. If I'm writing about them as nations, I will always try to only use nation names.**

**Also, yeah, I'm never going to understand Fahrenheit. You Americans are weird.**


End file.
